Against the backdrop of an evolving global logistics market, the global freight
distribution system has been impacted by a convergence in terms of technology,
infrastructure, modes and terminals. Containerization can be seen as the most
salient example of convergence, with far reaching consequences over supply
chains. With the standardization of load units, standardized modes (e.g. containerships)
and terminals were massively developed (Levinson 2006; Rodrigue and
Notteboom 2009). Intermodalism is associated with a higher level of integration
between different systems of circulation. This integration leads to new functional
structures, namely global production networks, each tending to have its own
organizational and spatial behavior, depending on the supply chains (Coe et al.
2004; Rodrigue 2006).